The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Osteospermum plant, botanically known as Osteospermum ecklonis, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Aknai’.
The new Osteospermum is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Aabyhøj, Denmark. The objective of the breeding program is to create new Osteospermum cultivars with uniform plant habit, interesting floret colors and high temperature tolerance.
The new Osteospermum originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor during the spring of 1999 of the Osteospermum ecklonis cultivar Akkali, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with the Osteospermum ecklonis cultivar Brightside, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,596, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Osteospermum was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination grown in a controlled environment in Aabyhøj, Denmark during the spring of 2000.
Asexual reproduction of the new Osteospermum by vegetative tip cuttings was first conducted in Aabyhøj, Denmark in February, 2000. Asexual reproduction by cuttings has shown that the unique features of this new Osteospermum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.